My wife is an immortal black snake.

"Well..."

If this is a future that both sides want to change, or a future that Yang Hao has been deceived into believing he must stop, then so be it.

But what if this is the future he desires—to settle down and start a family with another woman? What if this is an idea he refuses to change no matter how much she tries to alter it? Margarita doesn't want to ruin the happiness of the people she loves because of her selfishness... even if in the end she's the only one who gets hurt.

Fortunately... Yang Hao showed no intention of giving up on her. This was the most important reason why Margarita was so confident.

After hesitating for a moment, she shook her head and got back into her rhythm to work.

......

Margarita's work did not last long.

On one hand, her use of prophetic abilities has become increasingly refined recently: she knows that predicting too far into the future is useless, so she can only foresee the future up to a few days in advance. Under these circumstances, she works quickly, soon discovering the key points of the actions launched by the Demon-Hating Faction and professionals from various countries, and thus naturally completing her mission.

On the other hand... she can't actually stay in this world for too long right now.

This "prophecy" world seems to be a countdown world. Each time she enters, she can stay for an hour. After an hour, regardless of whether she has finished her work, she will be forced to leave this world due to exhaustion, and then continue working after resting for half an hour.

Moreover, the side effects are quite severe: the main symptom is nausea, such as not wanting to eat and only being able to drink blood. This symptom accumulates continuously as long as she enters the prophetic world, so Margarita won't stay here for very long unless absolutely necessary.

She's been sitting there for almost ten minutes now.

After confirming that she had memorized all the details, she left. With her consciousness returning and a throbbing headache, Margarita returned to reality, and then groggily opened her eyes to find that the head maid had been watching her from the side for some time now.

"ah!"

She was startled and couldn't help but scream. In response to her scream, the head maid, Monica, simply covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Hehe, Miss Margarita, you are so adorable. You are like a fledgling bird nestled beside its mother, so carefree... Although it is indeed possible to do so in our house, you are still a lovely child.”

"Child...children and such..."

"Grow up quickly, lovely Miss Margarita. And the tea is still warm, please drink it as soon as possible."

After saying that, the head maid vanished in an instant, right before Margarita's astonished eyes.

Margarita looked around in confusion, and after confirming that Monica had indeed "disappeared" in this room, she blinked blankly, then obediently picked up her own teacup on the table and drank the warm liquid inside in one gulp.

“...Haha. That’s just how Monica is. She likes to secretly observe others, but Margarita, you don’t need to worry about what she might do. She does it to take better care of people.” Yang Hao explained Monica’s behavior to Margarita with a wry smile. “You’ll be dealing with her a lot after you come to Ursus.”

"...Um...Is Ms. Monica also an immortal?" Margarita put down her teacup, turned around, and asked Yang Hao with some confusion. She looked Yang Hao up and down, then glanced at Karina, who was still engrossed in her work: "Miss Karina also..."

“Monica is an Ascended Being, and in a sense, she does live as long as the Blood Demon or other immortals. Karina, on the other hand, is still on her way.”

"Hmm, just like Yang Hao? I understand..."

Margarita breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this way, the people she cared about wouldn't leave her first because of age. She then began to report to Yang Hao about the outcome of her "prophecy".

Following Margarita's prophecy, Yang Hao learned of the following key moments.

On December 15th, the "Anti-Demon" faction in Kazdel will attempt to instigate widespread chaos in the residential areas. These Anti-Demon elements appear to be supported by Colombian "Professionals," who possess a new type of poison gas weapon capable of causing catastrophic damage.

"...As for us, the uranium-235, the improvised explosive devices, and the samples of those poison gases were only recently sent back to Ursus. It'll probably take Ms. Kal'tsit a long time to study them... So, the most urgent thing is to eliminate them before they cause any chaos, right? Okay, I got it. Anything else?"

"Mmm, and also..." Margarita had somehow ended up sitting on Yang Hao's lap. She comfortably squinted her eyes, moving her thighs, completely unaware of the stimulation her random hip movements were providing to Mr. Yang.

The innocent little bat just felt something hard pressing against her... but was it a belt? She was a little confused and decided to ask her teacher today.

Then she began to recount another crucial event...

On the morning of December 15th, the Colombian "professionals" will meet with a group of "anti-demon" members in the suburbs. A blond man named Felin appears to be the leader of that professional group. If they eliminate him, the Colombian side should be less likely to act rashly.

On the night of December 15th, Victoria's "professionals" will lead a group of Waifans to the border region of Kazdel to rob the Sarkaz who are migrating into the city. They appear to be slave traders, as they only take the stronger-looking Sarkaz, killing the rest on the spot.

On the afternoon of December 16th, tourists from Yan Kingdom arrived. They were fully armed, brought a large quantity of goods, and immediately headed towards the Ursus camp...

"...I feel like Yan Country is the real big spender."

To be honest—when Margarita mentioned the first two, Mr. Yang Hao, though looking embarrassed (because the hair on his longer member was being pulled back), was still chatting and laughing with Margarita, occasionally making strange jokes to Karina, who was rolling her eyes at them from a distance. When Margarita mentioned the guests from [Yan Kingdom]...

The smile vanished from his face. The helplessness on his face was so profound that even Margarita found it hard to bear...

But what could he do? A princess from Yan Kingdom proposed to a duke in Ursus with her dowry, and Ursus had no reason to refuse—as long as Ursus didn't want to antagonize Yan Kingdom and start another war.

So after thinking it over, since there's no way to refuse Princess Wei Qing's marriage proposal, why not start thinking about the benefits of marrying Princess Wei Qing into the family?

Yang Hao held Margarita and sighed softly. He rubbed Margarita's soft thighs, then rubbed her face, and then used the [Puppet Stage] to think about the benefits of Princess Wei Qing marrying into the family.

【1--Ursus and Yan will automatically become allies】.

As the saying goes, in more feudal times, the quickest way to gain allies was to marry someone's daughter or have someone's daughter marry into your family.

With the two families becoming in-laws, at least until the princess who married into the family passes away, the two countries—or rather, the families—will become very close allies.

In other words, after Princess Wei Qing marries into the family, Yang Hao won't need to go through so much trouble saying anything—you understand. In short, he doesn't need to resort to any schemes or tricks; the Wu and Yan kingdoms will become close allies and even in-laws, that's all.

Besides that? Yang Hao's eyes darted around, and he naturally thought of things related to money.

[2 - Princess Wei Qing's dowry and deeper commercial exchanges with Wu Yan]

Actually, Yang Hao didn't care much about the dowry. It was just a few tens of thousands of gold coins and a bunch of rare resources; those were minor matters.

Most importantly, commercial exchanges between Ursus and Yan will become more in-depth.

If Yang Hao's initial plan only kept trade between Yan and Ursus at a low level, such as trade in grains and raw materials, and at most a few industrial products, for a few decades, then after Princess Wei Qing married into the family, the two sides were essentially in-laws. Naturally, this provided a breakthrough for deeper trade.

At that time, Yang Hao will be able to get Ursus to exchange for Yan Kingdom's unique Originium Arts or some of their truly exquisite delicacies through trade.

This is a good thing, a very good thing—and it seems like it really is a gift that can only be given after the two sides have reached such a close relationship...

Ugh!

So, besides dowry and allies, what else is there?

After thinking for a long time, Yang Hao finally came up with the third thing: intelligence.

[3 - Some non-classified, yet difficult-to-obtain, intelligence known to the Yan Kingdom]

Every country has its own little secrets to protect. The Yan Kingdom is no exception. They certainly have countless little secrets unknown to outsiders, but Princess Wei Qing's marriage has created a breach in the barrier protecting these secrets: perhaps Yang Hao will never be able to steal the core secrets of the Great Yan Kingdom, but even some scraps or some insignificant information to the Yan Kingdom will be enough.

With enough information, Yang Hao could integrate it into something useful using the [Puppet Stage]. And speaking of which, could I request something secretive in the dowry? I need [Divine Blood]. Do you have any gods willing to give me a little blood? Just a little...

...

Thinking about it this way, it seems like a really good deal, doesn't it?

Yang Hao nodded thoughtfully. Just then, Margarita, whom he was holding, shifted restlessly, leaning back against him and whispering:

"Um... Yang Hao? Do you really dislike Yan Country?"

"Huh? No, I don't dislike it. It's just that I need to think about some things concerning the prisoners... What's wrong, Margarita?"

"Nothing... I just... wanted to ask you something."

"That's it."

Yang Hao gently nudged the top of Margarita's head with his chin.

He looked down at Margarita, the little bat's skin already showing signs of wear and tear from her outdoor activities.

"Margarita, are you still doing work like a messenger of natural disasters?"

"Huh? This... I haven't had it since I started cultivating... but if I were to do it again, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

She shook her head in confusion, then nodded in reply.

Seeing Margarita's expression, Mr. Yang Hao knew that this young girl definitely wouldn't want to pursue the path of the Calamity Messenger—she'd been holding back for a long time. He figured that if she came over, she'd just want to stay home and not go out at all.

Sigh! She did this because she didn't want me to support her... but in the end, she still ended up being supported by me, didn't she?

Yang Hao gently rubbed Margarita's cheeks, thinking that once they got back, Kosicherry would probably be less harsh on her because of him, right? Hmm, probably...

For the sake of that time you did that kind of thing to me while Margarita was on the phone with me...

Ugh!

Chapter 177

.....

"...elder sister?"

"..."

"Sister? Imperial sister? Therese!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Looking up blankly from the pile of documents, Therese, who had been working for quite some time, had no idea why her sister had called her.

But when she saw her sister point to the clock on the wall, she realized—it was already this time?

It's afternoon tea time now.

She stretched, and the action caused her lower abdomen, which had been lingering from the previous strenuous exercise, to go numb for a moment, resulting in a strange expression on her face.

To be honest, she wasn't sure if all men were like that...

The feeling, like being struck hard in a sensitive spot by a crossbow bolt, still felt extremely strange to her, and she even considered asking her teacher if there was something wrong with her in that area... What Therese meant was that she was overly enthusiastic in that area.

“…Let’s go to our restaurant for afternoon tea and relax. Work has been so hectic lately; we have to keep working at a high intensity until the Ursus people arrive tomorrow,” Theresa, who also had dark circles under her eyes, suggested. She looked at her sister’s strange expression, as if she were looking at a beast that had suddenly experienced some great joy. “And sister, um…”

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"...No, nothing."

There was no mark there. Surely... nothing too serious happened during the meeting last night, right?

She had imagined more than once that if Kal'tsit were here, this knowledgeable elder might offer her some good advice... but who knew that Lady Kal'tsit had already become his researcher? So, not knowing what to do, at noon today, Theresa had no choice but to send a messenger to Ursus to deliver a handwritten letter to Kal'tsit, asking for her opinion.

Kal'tsit's reply is expected to arrive quite some time later, so in the meantime, the two Kazdel sisters will truly have to rely on themselves.

They looked at each other in silence. Finally, Therese came to her senses. She stood up, leaning on the table for support. The lingering, phantom-like pleasure in her abdomen had kept Therese from getting a good night's sleep until this morning.

Fortunately, she was still holding on. So, as if nothing had happened, they chatted about their work that day as they made their way to a private restaurant to enjoy tea and refreshments and take a short break.

"Although we've ordered the soldiers to maintain order within the city as much as possible... as expected, without sufficient intelligence, we can only passively defend..."

"...There's nothing we can do about it. The Blood Demon patriarch has already sent his people to gather as much intelligence as possible. But as expected, it's proving to be far too difficult for us."

"Ugh..."

They sipped their tea and enjoyed the Ursus-style desserts that had appeared in Kazdel's court since the start of trade with Ursus. They ate quickly because they didn't have much time to rest; after ten minutes at most, they would have to continue their work as planned.

While they were resting, the absolutist knocked on the door and came in with a letter:

"Your Highness, Lady Therese...a letter from Lord Yang Hao of Ursus."

“...Oh?” Therese raised an eyebrow. “What did the teacher say?”

"The Ursus man who delivered the letter did not tell me what was inside; he demanded that the two lords open it themselves."

After placing the letter on the table, the pardoner stood solemnly to the side. Therese and her sister exchanged a glance, then put down their tea and looked at the letter on the table.

It was a very ordinary letter, except that a special Originium Arts technique was added to the envelope for secure storage.

Therese knew at a glance it was a ruse. So she simply tore open the envelope, took out the letter inside, and read it briefly.

Her expression shifted from indifference to seriousness in less than three seconds. The letter contained a wealth of information: the next activity of the [Anti-Demon Faction], the actions of the [professionals] from Columbia and Victoria over the next two days, and the arrival time of the [tourists] from Yan...

"...It seems that the teachers and their intelligence sources are more abundant than ours, the natives." Theresa smacked her lips and handed the letter to Theresa. "But this is also our good fortune... Let the soldiers prepare. At least we need to clean up those Colombian bastards and Victorian bastards, as well as the anti-demon faction members, tomorrow."

"...Yes, I agree. Let the Banshee and the Blood Demon work together—we can't let our rank-and-file soldiers who are maintaining order suffer too many casualties."

"The teacher will probably send his [visitors] to help us then... Compared to that, the guests from Yan Kingdom are probably not here for us. Let the teacher handle it."

"...Let's prepare for negotiations with the Yan ambassador."

"So be it."

The Kazdel sisters were discussing work-related issues.

And the other side.

Mr. Yang Hao's "class" time.

After repeatedly instructing Head Maid Monica not to disturb him during his classes unless absolutely necessary, he went to his usual classroom.

There, Ms. Northumen had already prepared everything he needed for the lesson—whether it was a simple model of internal organs or some necessary compressed teaching materials. She had prepared so much; she was truly a good teacher.

But then again...

"...Ms. Norson? Your outfit..."